Everything to Me

45.

"Well, Mr. Black, is it true?" Dumbledore said with a smile, his eyes twinkiling behind his half moon spectacles. Sirius, James and Emily were seated in the Headmaster's office after dinner, discussing the recent events.

Sirius glared at Emily who was guiltily look at her feet, not daring to meet anyone's eyes. "Yes, I was given love potion by her, Sir. For an entire month!" He said, his voice suddenly rising.

"Padfoot..." James said, trying to ground him.

"Ms. Vector?" Dumbledore turned to Emily. She looked at him. "I hope you are aware that love potions are not allowed and thus, there will be consequences." He spoke calmly, so as to not startle her.

Not being able to speak, she simply nodded.

"Well, then, I request you wait outside while I speak to your head of house."

The 3 of them slowly got up and made their way outside where Professor Mcgonagall was waiting. She gave a sympathetic look to Emily and went inside.

To say that Sirius was mad would be an understatement. If it hadn't been for James, he would have hexed Emily without a tinge of guilt. Not only did she waste his time and forced his affection, she distanced him from Juliette and his friends, his family.

His fists had balled and knuckles turned white when James nudged him. He then saw Emily going with Professor Mcgonagall to the headmaster's study.

"At least now you can date Jules and I wouldn't mind." James laughed nervously, trying to diffuse the tension and calm Sirius down. His heart gave a leap out of excitement when he realized that James was finally okay with him dating Juliette and a small smile crept onto his face.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, mate. It was about time. No one can ignore how happy you were with each other. I just... You had the wrong kind of - um, reputation and I just couldn't see her getting hurt." James replied.

Sirius finally understood why James didn't like them together. "I would never hurt her, Prongs. Never. I swear. How could I? I have not felt this way about anyone before."

Before James could reply, Mcgonagall stepped out of the headmaster's office, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, a punishment has been decided."

* * * * *

"This is so unfair!" Sirius exclaimed for the 10th time as he flopped down on the sofa with his friends. James simply sighed and sat down beside Juli on the ground.

"What is?" Remus asked, looking up from his book. "They gave her a punishment, didn't they? I thought that is why you were called by Dumbledore."

"Yes, they did - but, no, not really."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, raising her brows. Peter had stopped playing gob stones and was focussing on the conversation.

"Detention for the rest of year, twice a week. That's all! She practically controlled me. I lost valuable time and that's all she gets!?"

It was obvious to everyone that Sirius was not satisfied by the punishment. They all looked confused and nodded in agreement.

Juli, however, seemed unfazed. She cleared her throat. "I, um, well, I might have had something to do with that."

All eyes turned towards her and Sirius was on the edge of his seat.

"Seeing that we are not seers, you will have to give us a bit more than that, Jules." Remus said.

"Well, after everything happened, I found her, er- Emily, alone in the common room last night and she looked really... sad."

"She was caught, wasn't she? Of course she'd be sad." Sirius interjected impatiently.

"That's what I thought, too." Juli continued. "But then after thinking about it, I approached her."

"You WHAT?" James shouted. "You know what she did, Jules. How could you just... just approach her?"

"What else should I have done?"

"How does not approaching her sound?"

She glared at him, "Rude, Jamie. It sounds rude. But anyway," She said, before James could retort, "I talked to her. She really was sorry and turns out, she is just like any another teenage girl."

"Again, since we are not any sort of teenage girl, what does that mean?" Remus asked.

"Meaning she wanted attention." Lily clarified.

"Exactly. And imagine getting attention from one of the most popular guys at school." Juli said.

"But it still does not justify what she did, Juli." Lily said.

"This is not my secret to share, but things at her home went a bit south this summer and she just, sort of, channeled her feelings the wrong way. So I talked to Mcgonagall this morning and she agreed to go easy."

She then got up and sat down beside Sirius on the sofa, "I am so sorry. I know you're angry and you should be. I am not asking you to forgive her, I am asking you to understand because you've been through it, too."

It was like Sirius' anger almost vanished at her kind words and empathy and he nodded, settling back onto the sofa.

"Hey, Jules?" James said. "Girls really like attention from the most popular guy at school?"

She smirked, knowing where this was going. "Lily, James wishes to know why you don't like all the attention from him. He is pretty popular, you know."

"I, uh, well, you know." She groaned as her cheeks turned as red as her hair.

James, too, looked like he would explode. "Speaking of attention," he said, "Padfoot here promised me something."

"Padfoot did?" Sirius asked him.

James nodded. "He promised me that he would never hurt you, Jules." He said with glee.

Juli's smirk faded as she stood up, "Did he, now? Too bad it has already happened." Without another word, she left the common room.

Sirius' expression darkened as he looked at Remus and James for help. "How much more time?" He sighed.

"A little bit more, Siri. I am sure she'll be alright." Lily told him reassuringly. "You should all go to bed, she'll be back before curfew."

James and Sirius looked hesitant.

"Lily and I will find her during our prefect patrol if she doesn't return." Remus said.

The 3 boys said their goodbyes and went towards their dorm, talking about their next big prank.

* * * * *

Rapid knocking was heard on the door of the boys' dorm. Remus, half-asleep, opened the door to a frantic Lily.

She entered the dorm and walked straight to James' bed. "Wake up, Potter. WAKE UP." She poked him. Remus woke up Sirius behind her.

He sat up and put his glasses on and switched on his lamp. "Come to profess your undying love for me, Flower?" He grinned.

"I told Remus that - that I would find Juli so that he can come back but I couldn't so I waited in the common room." She paused.

"Well?" Sirius asked anxiously.

"I must have fallen asleep because I woke up now. I even checked our dorm. It's 4 AM and she isn't back yet."